The ability for groups to effectively collaborate is important for both economic and societal
progress. Extant research has demonstrated that group performance can be explained by a
general "collective intelligence" (CI) factor, but there is ongoing debate about the components of
CI with important implications for our understanding of how it develops or can be enhanced. We
conduct a meta-analysis with data from 22 studies and 5,279 individuals in 1,356 groups to
investigate the structure of collective intelligence using factor analysis. Our analysis yields
strong support for a hierarchical three-factor model, supporting a theory that collective
intelligence emerges from collective memory, attention, and reasoning. The model explains the
data better than other plausible alternatives, especially in established groups who had the
opportunity to develop their collective cognition over time. Our findings provide new insights
into the formation of collective intelligence and have important implications for the design and
evaluation of interventions that aim to increase it.
NetSI authors
